Logitech unveils first gadget for Google TV

Alex Dobuzinskis

2 Min Read

<p>Kevin Simon, director of product marketing in the digital home group at Logitech, presents the keyboard-controller during the launch of "Revue," Logitech's set-top box for the forthcoming Google TV platform, in New York, October 6, 2010. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid</p>

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Logitech International SA showed off on Wednesday its $300 set-top box for the soon-to-be-launched Google TV, the first glimpse of what the Web search giant’s holiday-season television-streaming product will look like.

The $299.99 Revue is touted as a way for users to watch both television programs and Web content -- Google has already landed deals with the likes of Time Warner Inc’s HBO and News Corp -- on a TV that Japan’s Sony Corp will build and sell.

But Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Partners, said consumers might balk at the price tag.

“That’s a piece of change,” Gillis said. “The price point, as Apple has pointed out, for a device like this is about $99. So, it’s expensive and yet another box you’ve got to plug in.”

Apple Inc last month unveiled a Web-to-TV device for $99 called Apple TV, which is expected to battle Google TV as well as cable companies for control of the digital living room.

Gillis expects sales of the Logitech Revue to largely be confined to consumers of “cutting edge technology.”

Logitech on Wednesday also unveiled other peripheral products for Google TV, including a keyboard controller and a video calling device.

Google Inc has signed content partnership deals with a range of media and Internet companies, including NBC/Universal for CNBC programing and Amazon.com Inc for video-on-demand movie and TV show titles.

Devices powered by Google TV will be launched this month.

Web search king Google is chasing the $70 billion TV advertising market, but the world’s most creative and deep-pocketed technology companies such as Microsoft Corp and Apple have struggled to crack the market.

Google TV presents a new outlet for the company’s trove of video at social networking website YouTube.com. But the company also faces resistance from media companies, who are concerned that Web-enabled TV could harm their traditional TV business with numerous cable carriers.